


Mysterious As (The Dark Side of the Lagoon)

by SirLadySketch



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Compliant, First Kiss, In their travels, M/M, Princess and the Frog world, Rage form, SoRiku Week 2018, antiform, new relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 14:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16934832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirLadySketch/pseuds/SirLadySketch
Summary: On a mission to  "Find Mama Odie" on a new world, Riku and Sora weren't really sure what to expect. Theydefinitelyweren't expecting so many bugs.My first-ever SoRiku fic, finished just in time for SoRiku Week 2018! Themes used: "In Their Travels" and "First Kiss"





	Mysterious As (The Dark Side of the Lagoon)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pineovercoat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pineovercoat/gifts).



> SUPER BELATED present to my ever patient friend and beta reader [ pineovercoat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pineovercoat), whose Riku voice is second to none. I cannot thank you enough for all of your help on EVERYTHING, including letting me whine at you about KH, accepting my meme spams, and bringing me Sbux. <3
> 
> Also a shoutout to [ Autumnplants](https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnplants/works) for agreeing to read over this for me, too. Thank you!
> 
> [ Last but not least, I commissioned the AMAZING Cherri on Twitter to draw an antiform Sora x Riku and I LOVE IT SO MUCH AHHHHHHH.](https://twitter.com/chelmishi/status/1104915086391631872)
> 
> [ I also received an absolutely stunning piece of fanart from Cloudcastor on Twitter, please go shower them with love you guys!! ](https://twitter.com/cloudcastor/status/1159181337384763392)

“Rikuuuuu there are so many bugsssssssss,” Sora whined for the umpteenth time. He slapped a hand on his exposed leg, grimaced at the smear of blood and bug guts, then fell back into this seat with another dramatic sigh. “Too many bugs.”

Riku had to agree, there  _ were _ too many bugs, but he wasn’t going to admit that out loud. Agreeing with Sora would just lead to more whining, and while he sympathized with Sora’s complaints, he didn’t want to encourage them. This world was proving itself particularly difficult to navigate, and he didn’t need to split his focus between swamps and Sora.

If he ignored Sora’s complaints and closed his eyes, he could almost pretend they were navigating the waters of one of the smaller islands back home. The boat was of a similar shape and size to the one he’d used countless times, right down to the compact seating arrangement, Sora’s knees brushing against his calves and vice versa. The familiar arrangement was almost cozy. 

Almost, except the smells of brackish swamp water lacked the faint tinge of sea salt, and the wetlands here hosted a much more robust population of bugs of the stinging and biting variety. But pretending they were home wouldn’t get their mission completed any faster, and whining about the bugs certainly wouldn’t help.

“See if you can cast that wind spell again, that helped before,” he suggested, and pulled at the oars again. The boat slid forward, gently bobbing along the surface as it passed over unseen obstacles below. Sora didn’t reply, but a moment later Riku felt the shift in air, and a light breeze drifted over the boat.

Yen Sid had warned them that it would be tough. That they’d have to stay alert and focus on getting in, then getting out. Mickey had said something about strange magics, but he hadn’t seemed all that concerned-- they’d taken on the darkness more than once, so he knew that they could handle anything that came their way. 

Neither Master had mentioned the  _ heat _ , however, or how long it would take to actually get to their destination. Or how one damn tree looked exactly like the next damn tree, and how there were weeds and roots and logs choking the waterways-- except, of course, when the log had been an alligator, and hadn’t  _ that _ been a fun surprise? 

_ Follow the signs _ , they’d said.  _ Let your heart be your guiding key, and you’ll find your way. _

But even with Sora’s small spell it was still hot, and Riku was in a light sweat already-- rowing the boat was difficult work, so while the breeze would bring some relief, it wasn’t quite enough to take off the edge. He was cranky. He knew he was cranky and he was doing his best not to snap at Sora whose own frustrations manifested in ever-lengthening whines, but he didn’t even know what they were supposed to be doing out here.  _ Go see Mama Odie. _

Riku could only guess that this Mama Odie was a Master like King Mickey or Yen Sid, someone who protected an important artifact that was vital to keeping the balance of light and dark. The further they got away from town, however, the more Riku began to doubt this assumption, because who in their right mind would choose to live in the middle of the swamp?

At least the trip had been relatively uneventful, bugs aside. The only real trouble they’d run into were mosquitos, and a few lazy alligators that had eyed them from the banks of the river, but otherwise this world seemed peaceful. But Yen Sid had been adamant that there was trouble afoot-- or at least he’d  _ implied  _ it, Riku was having a difficult time remembering him outright saying it-- and the Master had never been wrong before. RIku trusted the Master’s word, and Sora trusted Riku, so if there was something afoot, they’d find it.

“That’s helped with the bugs, but it’s still too hot,” Sora sighed. He had slumped against the tiller and stripped down to an undershirt, and while the breeze definitely helped, it would take more than a little air to cool off rising tempers. Riku made a thoughtful noise, then nudged Sora with his boot between pulls.

“Do you have enough magic left over to summon some ice?” he asked, pulling at the oars again. “If we can keep a block of it on the boat and in the path of the wind, maybe it’ll cool the breeze.”

Sora didn’t reply, just squeezed his eyes shut and muttered something about blizzards, wiggling his fingers and biting his tongue in concentration. Riku smiled, despite his irritable mood. He should really snag a picture to send to Kairi when the got back, or to tease Sora about later when they’d gone back into town for their promised plate of beignets. But that would require extra movement and energy on his part, so Sora’s dignity got a pass-- this time, anyway.

Frost began to form around the boat, freezing the water that had splashed into the bottom of the craft. Icicles hung from the oars, and Riku’s next exhale came out in a puff of steam. Relief was instant. He took a moment to savor the temperature change as Sora slumped back in the boat again, letting out a happy sigh and draping his fingers over the side to trail in the water.

“I’m tapped out,” he said, sounding exhausted. Riku was pleased to hear that the whining was gone, although it sounded like it’d been replaced by exhaustion. “Even Agrabah wasn’t this bad. It was hot, yeah, but… I dunno. How could anyone live in these conditions?”

“It’s probably the humidity making you tired,” Riku said. He pulled up the oars for a minute so they could just glide, and as the water around them quieted, the songs of frogs and birds in the surrounding woods rose into a lulling chorus. Sora closed his eyes, too, no doubt trying to recover some of the energy he’d spent during the boat ride. Riku couldn’t blame him. With the cooling breeze and gentle sway of the boat, it would be easy enough to drift off into a light doze. He was tempted himself, honestly.

Of course  _ that  _ was when the Heartless attacked.

It was the sudden stillness that had him sitting at attention, his hands gripping the oars as he looked around.Sunlight still filtered green and soft through the trees, but the shadows seemed to deepen, taking on a dark purple hue. Riku banked the oars and quietly summoned his keyblade, then took a deep breath to channel his focus. 

“Riku?” Sora was sitting up now, too, pulling on his jacket and following Riku’s lead. He summoned his blade as well, the last of his spelled wind falling away. They sat in the boat and there was nothing but silence.

When it was clear that searching the area with his eyes wasn’t going to help, RIku reached within, teasing out the darkness in a slow, controlled release. He’d been working with Yen Sid on this, focusing his darkness into a woven skein net that he could cast around them like a web. If anything tripped over the invisible threads he would feel it, the disturbances giving him just enough of an edge to anticipate the attack.

He forced himself to breathe out as the shadows settled into place around them. He couldn’t  _ feel _ anything, but there was a tension in the air, some sort of wrongness that went beyond silence. But it  _ wasn’t _ silent, he realized. There were drums, drums coming from the woods up ahead where the shadows seemed darkest. He stared into it, trying to see further ahead, but he couldn’t make out anything concrete, just shifting forms that seemed to distort with the pulse of the drum,  _ thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump. _

Sora’s hand on his arm was a shock of cold-- a lingering effect of the spell, perhaps?-- but his grip was strong and insistent.

“Riku, look, over there,” he whispered, voice tense.

Riku shifted his focus from the shadows and turned his attention to where Sora pointed with his keyblade, and he saw it, faintly, just beyond the reach of his scrying net-- green flames danced along the water’s surface, small orbs of light that flickered and spat as they hurtled towards the small boat.

Sora started to scramble to his feet, but Riku pulled him back down, handing him an ether. 

“You’ll rock the boat,” he warned as the small vessel attempted to roll with Sora’s abrupt movement. Sora gulped down the drink and crouched on the wooden seat, watching the light break into two, then four, rapidly doubling as they sped towards their little craft. 

Now that they were getting closer, Riku could see that the green flames were actually the eyes of what had to be Heartless of some sort. Blades of grass ran like spikes along their spines, interspersed with lily pad plates. Thick mosses hung from their backs and tails, blending in so well with their surroundings that if it hadn’t been for the eyes, he’d never see them if they were standing still. They looked like some sort of hybrid alligator and swamp flora hybrid, but he could see the Heartless symbol glowing on their chests in that same eerie green glow. They looked wet, but it also looked like it was mostly plants. How did the body avoid getting consumed by the green flames?

“Fire?” Sora asked, thinking along the same lines. Riku shook his head and tried to think.

“It’ll have to be hot enough for an instant kill, otherwise they’ll probably just dip into the water and extinguish it,” he said, then looked around them to see if there was anything they could use to their advantage. There were small patches of raised earth, not really enough to call them an island, but they’d have to suffice for now. “There! We’ll face them on land. See if freezing them will slow them down!”

Riku dismissed his keyblade and unhooked the oars, looking over his shoulder so he could manually steer the boat towards the small, sandy shoal. Sora stood at the ready, keyblade already starting to develop a sheen of frost, and then he spun on the wooden seat, lobbing what looked like a snowball at the oncoming Heartless. 

Sora’s aim wasn’t quite accurate enough. The spell fell short of the beasts, but as it hit the water, fractals of ice radiated from the spot, freezing the top of it into a frosted-- and apparently slippery-- surface. The monsters skidded and slid as ice traveled up their limbs, temporarily holding them in place. That would hold some of them, at least for now, but there were others darting around the icy patch, still intent on catching up with them. 

Sora began chanting again, preparing another spell to hit more of the creatures, and Riku hazarded another glance over his shoulder. Another 20 yards and they’d be at dry land, and then they could--

They spilled out of the boat as something large and heavy rammed them from the side, the crack of timbers breaking barely audible above their startled cries. Sora pitched headlong into the water and disappeared under the duckweed, while Riku managed to cling to the side of the boat. Dazed, he looked at the upturned keel and could see the damage, knew that they’d have to stop and repair things once they’d dealt with the Heartless, but more importantly, he could see what had  _ caused _ the damage. 

A massive alligator cut through the weeds, its plant-covered limbs swirling eddies in the water as it bobbed closer to the surface. It was easily twice the size of their craft and thickly muscled, and there were white patches of scarred skin from battles long since won. This monster had clearly survived much in its lifetime, and had probably ruled the swamp for most of it. However, Riku had a feeling that the beast probably would’ve let them be if it hadn’t been for the painted mask clinging to its face, eyes burning bright as the Heartless symbol pulsed with purple shadows. 

The beast crashed into one of the ice chunks, shattering the spell with a blow from its tail and freeing the smaller monster within. Others fell in rank beside it, swimming towards the boat at an ever increasing pace.

“Sora!” Riku dropped from the boat and sank into the water, surprised to find that it only came up to about his chest. Still, it was faster to swim, and Sora was… climbing a tree, apparently. Riku pushed that thought from his mind and dove towards the island, trusting that Sora knew what he was doing.

When he finally reached the beach and his feet hit the ground, he summoned his keyblade again. He immediately sought out Sora, and some of the tightness in his chest released as he saw that Sora had managed to get to a wide branch on one of the ancient trees, using the high position to take shots at the creatures below.

With Sora accounted for, Riku turned to face the oncoming monster, blade at the ready. It had ducked under the water again, but the shallow depths and the sheer bulk of the beast kept most of its body exposed. This part of the river was also relatively narrow with trees and thick vegetation, which meant that its pace, while steady, was slow. With its head underwater, it almost looked like a drifting  island, although he could see the glowing outline of the mask. Still, it gave him an idea. 

He turned back to Sora, tossing him another ether from their dwindling supply. “Keep them busy!” he called, and Sora paused long enough to catch the ether and raise it in a one-handed salute. He grinned back and yelled, “I’ve got them!”

Riku waited and watched the alligator’s progress, making sure the timing was just right before he took a running leap and jumped onto the monster’s back. It didn’t even flinch, not even when Riku had to stab downwards to stabilize himself on the slick surface as it continued its slow progress around the river. 

On top of its back, Riku was just high enough to be out of reach of the smaller Heartless, although if they ran into any flying or treeborne enemies he’d be in trouble. He had to find some way to get it to raise its head, some way to get the mask out of the water long enough that he could pry the thing off to see if that would defeat it, or at the very least, make it more vulnerable.

With one hand still on his keyblade, he used his teeth to pull off the glove on the other hand, then felt the electricity begin to build in the cup of his palm. This sort of magic was still tricky for him, offensive spells that didn’t draw on his inner darkness, but he managed to gather enough energy that by the time the alligator slowed down to navigate a particularly weedy patch of water, he was able to let go with his gloved hand and grab the keyblade with the other. 

Lighting engulfed the blade as the spell traveled down the shaft and then into the flesh of the monster beneath him, tendrils of electricity jumping from point to point along the creature’s back, causing its muscles to spasm and twitch. It reared back its head as the energy traveled up its spine, and Riku pulled out his blade, running forward to swing at the head with all the strength he could muster. There was a crack, a flash of green fire, and the mask fell away from the beast.

The effect was instantaneous. The alligator roared in pain and began to shrink, rolling in the water in an attempt to free itself of the things that had caused it pain. Riku fell back into the water as the alligator fled, temporarily stunning the smaller Heartless in its wake. He found his footing soon enough, close enough to a sandbar to scramble towards more solid ground, and he turned to locate the pieces of the mask to ensure that it wouldn’t grab another beast.

The mask floated above the water more than a dozen yards away, listing from side to side as it appeared to get its bearings. He could still hear the faint thump of drums, the beat of which sounded in time with the mask’s movements. One mystery down, then. Despite being carved of wood, the expression seemed to change when it spotted Riku, its eye sockets widening in alarm. It shot off towards the trees, the eerie green faelight trailing in its wake. Riku coughed out water and took a few belabored steps, already knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to catch up.

Sora came back into view then, too, keyblade out as he hacked and slashed at another wave of Heartless creatures. He paused when he saw Riku waving at him, and followed Riku’s frantic gestures to look further down the river.

“The mask!” Riku pointed towards the dancing totem, “It’s controlling the Heartless-- Sora!”

Sora was already running towards it, sliding along algae-slicked branches and whacking at the treefrog heartless as they made another attempt at snatching the keyblade from Sora’s hands. Riku blocked another lunge of snapping jaws and pushed forward, trusting in Sora to take care of the leader while he kept the ground forces busy. 

There were six of them altogether, and while the terrain was less than ideal he  _ did _ manage to lure them to land. A series of sidesteps and quick moves finished them, and it was over in less than five minutes. 

Riku paused, panting, and listened. Tentative birdsong in the trees and the odd croak of a frog here and there meant that the danger was over. He couldn’t hear Sora fighting, but if the animals were starting up again, that had to mean that Sora had finished his battle, too. Riku  _ could _ go after him, but he trusted Sora would be able to make his way back. Besides, the boat was here-- what was left of it, anyway.

He waded out towards the clump of reeds that had snagged the small craft, and he guided it towards one of the exposed bits of land, hauling it out of the water before turning it upside to survey the damage. It wasn’t looking great, but they should be able to patch it well enough to get to Mama Odie’s, and she might be able to provide them with something more durable to get back to town. The oars were in better shape, although he did have to swim a bit downstream to retrieve them.

He tossed the second oar back into the boat and frowned, peering towards the direction that Sora had gone. It’d been almost twenty minutes now, and it wasn’t like Sora to stay away once he’d finished his fights. Riku tied the boat to one of the trees to ensure that it wouldn’t float away, then started making his way in the direction Sora had gone, concern beginning to shift into something closer to alarm.

“Sora?” Riku called out, feeling a flutter of panic. This part of the swamp was absolutely still-- even the damn bugs had gone blissfully quiet, but Sora didn’t  _ do _ quiet. Even unconscious, Sora managed to make noise. Riku didn’t want to think about what level of injury Sora must have sustained to stay silent.

The ground was more or less solid here, but there were holes between roots and sections of soft earth, so the going was slow. One step forward, test his weight on that patch of ground. Check for footprints or signs that Sora had come this way, then let his eyes wander up and out, checking the treeline for any other signs of life.

A shadow. It was fast and it kept low to the ground, but Riku was  _ sure _ that he’d seen something. But a shadow meant a Heartless, which meant that Sora was out there, somewhere, and he needed RIku’s help.

“Sora?” Riku called out, a little louder this time, and he heard the rustle in the bushes, over in the area where he’d seen the heartless. It was probably tracking Sora, too-- he’d either have to find Sora before it did, or he’d have take care of it now, and get back to finding Sora once the coast was clear. He had no idea where Sora had gone, though, so as much as he hated to shift his priorities, he started looking for a trail that would lead him to the errant shadow creature.

He didn’t have to look too hard. It had been moving for speed rather than stealth, and broken branches, muddy puddles, and crushed grasses gave him a direct path towards the creature. It was taking a direct path-- towards Sora?-- and Riku picked up the pace, trusting that the monster would avoid dangerous pockets of sunken earth through sheer instinct. 

The trail ended in a clearing, abrupt and conspicuous. Riku turned in place, trying to see if there was anything to indicate where it had gone, but there was no sign of Sora or the heartless. He knew it was still here, he could  _ smell _ the darkness over the cloying stench of rot and running water. If it was some sort of shadow, it might be stretching itself along the ground, looking for places to better circle around him and--

_ There _ . Movement in the bushes behind and slightly to the right, coming towards him. He pivoted on his heel, sweeping the blade up in an attack--

And jumped back, even as the heartless did the same. They stared at each other, both alert, but neither seemed sure of what to do with the other.

“...Sora?” Riku asked. He didn’t lower the blade entirely, he had no idea what kind of strange magics might be at work to twist the heartless of this world into terrible, familiar forms, but…. “Sora, what happened?”

The heartless figure twitched at the name. It stayed low to the ground, limbs extended in a crouch as threads of darkness rose into the air. It smelled of darkness, but Riku could also smell Sora, that distinct scent of sand and metal and  _ light _ , and the form was all Sora, too. He could see Sora’s outline clearly, although it was as if he’d rolled in ashes, with flecks of darkness rising from his skin. 

He’d heard of this, Sora had mentioned it once when Riku had asked why he never used Roxas’ blade. Of darkness taking over, giving him power and speed-- enhancements Riku knew all too well -- but at a cost that left Sora unsettled and afraid, not so much of the darkness, but of the wild and reckless abandon that came with it. That feeling of freedom, believing you could do anything, when you could feel the raw potential for power when you let the shadows creep in and take hold.

Darkness didn’t scare Sora, per se, but he didn’t have Riku’s experiences of dealing with it. And the way he spoke of this ‘anti-form’, knowing that he had so much darkness within him, trying to hide it to pretend it didn’t exist…

“It’s ok.”

Riku dismissed his keyblade and sat down on one of the drier-looking logs, then patted the seat beside him. 

“It’s ok,“ he repeated, keeping his voice low and untroubled. ”Come sit with me.” Sora loped over to him, but hung back, still hesitant. Riku smiled. “It’s just you and me. And I know you can’t really talk right now, so I can keep up the conversation for both of us until you can, ok?”

Sora inched closer until he was at Riku’s knee, then squatted on the ground, deliberately tilting his face away from Riku. But Riku didn’t have to see Sora’s face to know what he was feeling, and he knew what Sora would say in any case, so it was easy enough to start a dialogue.

“You’re the strongest person I know,” he admitted. “You don’t let anything hold you back. But you’re kinda dumb, too. You should already know that you don’t have to hide this from me.”

Sora shifted uneasily but he didn’t flinch away when Riku put a hand on his shoulder. 

“You’re not weak for turning into this,” Riku started, and gave Sora a reassuring smile as the shadowy head snapped in his direction before turning away again. “I mean it. It’s not  _ bad. _ It’s just another side of you.”

Riku reached up the ruffle Sora’s hair, which earned him a wide-eyed stare. He couldn’t  _ quite _ tell what Sora was thinking, since those glowing yellow eyes betrayed little emotion, but this was Sora, which meant that they both knew he spoke from experience. He softened his smile, letting his fingers linger in the spikes.

“It’s not bad, and you should already know that you don’t have to hide it from me-- you’ve seen me at my worst, and you never gave up on me. So why do you think I would give up on you?”

Sora reached up and pulled Riku’s hand from his hair, but instead of letting go, he pulled it to his chest, laying Riku’s hand flat against it. Riku felt the rhythmic beat and gave Sora another reassuring smile.

“Everyone’s heart has some measure of darkness,” Riku said. “That doesn't make the light weaker. If anything, it helps you understand how to find it. Like you. You always see the best in people. You helped me. You found a light that I thought I’d lost forever, and you brought me out of the darkness.”

The darkness surrounding Sora shifted, and for a moment Riku thought he might speak, the form fading away. But Sora only held on tighter, curling Riku’s hand into a fist, then pushing it away. Riku let go, hesitant to touch when it was unwelcome, but Sora gestured with his own hands again, hand to heart, then throwing it away. Riku understood then and shook his head. 

“I know that I can never get rid of the darkness, not completely-- but I shouldn’t try. I did what I had to save you-- and that’s what you were trying to do when this happened, right? You were trying to save us?”

Sora nodded, once, then looked away. Riku reached out to place his hands on Sora’s shoulders, grounding him, letting him know that Riku wasn’t going anywhere.

“Thank you,” he said, and smiled when Sora looked up at him again. “I know this form frightens you, and I know you wouldn’t choose this if you had any other choice, but it’s ok. It’s ok, because this is a side of you, too. You’re in complete control.”

Sora opened his mouth and a slight hiss came out. Riku understood what he meant. “Ok, well, maybe you can’t do  _ everything  _ you want to in this form,” he admitted, “but you saved us. And that means something, right?”

Sora tilted his head, thinking that over, and Riku nodded, watching him consider what that meant.

“Believe me when I say that I’m not afraid of you, and I’m not disappointed in you, and no one else would be, either. I just wish you’d let us help-- talk to one of us, because you don’t have to carry this on your own.”

Sora sighed and the yellow eyes drifted shut. He leaned over and rested his head against Riku’s arm, cat-like, and Riku gingerly used his other hand to pull Sora into a light hug. When Sora didn’t resist, he gave him a gentle squeeze.

“It’s not easy,” Riku admitted. “There are times that I wake up and I’m afraid that the darkness has overtaken me in the night, that if I look in the mirror, I’ll see  _ his _ face. I’ll always feel that connection, but it’s ok, it’s a part of me. This is a part of you. But I can feel it, you know.”

Sora looked up, curious, glowing eyes widening. Riku used his free hand to tap over Sora’s heart again.

“Your heart is too full of light to let something like this hold you back.”

Sora stared down at Riku’s hand, transfixed, and Riku quietly laughed.

“Sora, are you even liste--”

Sora kissed him.

It wasn’t much of a kiss as these things go. Riku hadn’t been expecting it, and Sora’s supernatural speed propelled him faster than he’d probably calculated. Riku tasted the bitter tang of darkness as Sora’s lips pressed against his half-open mouth, but beneath it was a lingering sweetness, something that was so  _ Sora _ he laughed despite the slightly bruised lip.

Sora shrank back at the sound, but Riku still had a hold on him, and he pulled Sora closer until their faces were level again. He rested his forehead against Sora’s, bringing up his hands to cup Sora’s cheeks.

“If you’re not more careful, we’ll both end up toppling into the swamp again,” he chided, but his voice was warm, and his smile softened the words. He stroked a thumb across Sora’s cheek, feeling the heat even though he couldn’t see the blush. “What am I going to do with you?”

Sora leaned in again-- more cautious, this time, and Riku felt the light brush of lips against his own mouth, more hesitant, but the taste was sweeter. When Sora pulled away he chased him with a more confident, lingering kiss.

Sora’s eyes had closed sometime during that second kiss, but when he opened them after they pulled apart, they were their usual bright blue. He grinned, cheeks flushed, and his fingers curled into Riku’s shirt as he bowed his head.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while,” he admitted, his voice cracking a bit before he cleared his throat. Riku laughed, and hugged him again.

“Me too.”

They were both wet from swamp water and perspiration, looking less like keyblade Masters and more like the bog creatures they’d just fought, but somehow it didn’t matter. Riku moved over to make room for Sora on the log, and they leaned against each other holding hands, just taking in the sounds of this world. 

With the Heartless gone and birdsong overhead, there was a quiet beauty to this place. Even the bugs seemed to have subsided, although Riku knew it was only a matter of time until they returned. He rested his head against the top of Sora’s, watching the light play over the water in a prism of colors.

“We should check the boat and go find Mama Odie,” Riku said. “And maybe see if we can find the pieces of that mask to learn what we can.” But he didn’t move, his attention drifting to how comfortably Sora’s hand fit in his. Sora sighed.

“Yeah, probably,” Sora agreed, also not actually making an effort to get up. He did turn his head to look up at Riku, though, shifting in his arms just a little. “Although… didn’t Tiana say something about fireflies?”

Riku laughed and reluctantly got to his feet. “It’s too early for fireflies, and we’re still on a mission. C’mon--” he said, pulling Sora up. Sora was  _ right there _ , only inches away, and Riku licked his lips, thinking about how easy it would be to lean down and kiss him again. He softened his voice, unable to resist that cheery smile. “We can stick around after to see them, though,” he promised.

Sora grinned, lifted to his tiptoes and gave Riku another kiss before he was dragging him off down the path, hand tight around his wrist.

“Mission first, then back to Tiana’s Place for dinner and beignets, then fireflies!” Sora said, then turned back, waiting for Riku. “Riku?” he asked when there wasn’t an immediate reply.

Riku smiled. “Wherever you go, I’ll follow,” he said, walking up to stand beside him, shifting his hand in Sora’s grip so he could thread their fingers together. He gave Sora’s hand a squeeze. “I promise.”


End file.
